Chapter 8

"Hey Mikey, what happened in here?" Paige asked when she walked into the dojo. She saw the shocked and hurt look on his face "I saw Mason run out"

"Nothing, he just got a little upset. That's all" he sighed when Mason's hurtful words ran through his mind "But I'm not giving up on him" he started walking by her

"Where are you going?"

"I have to find him"

"But he left the lair"

"I know where he might be" Jessica walked up to them "When he's upset he likes to climb things, preferably trees"

"So… central park" Paige suggested

Mikey smiled a little "It's worth a shot" Mikey said and headed for the exit "I'll be back later"

"Good luck babe"

XXX

In the park

Mason sat up in a tree staring at the nearly black sky only a few stars and the crescent moon lit up the sky. He sighed as the past hour ran through his brain 'Why did I say that?' he thought. He was mad at the time that part was true, but he knew better than to talk to an adult like that. He was raised better than that. He let out an annoyed, frustrated sigh as he rubbed his temples.

"It's official" he heard a voice "You are definitely my son" Mason looked down from his spot on the branch and saw the orange banded turtle standing there. He looked away

"What are talking about?"

"When I was your age I used to come out here and look at the stars. It calmed me down" Mason said nothing, just hugged his knees as he continued to avoid eye contact. When he didn't say anything he continued "It's nice isn't it?" Mikey asked hoping for some kind of response. Something… anything.

"I wanna know" Mason finally said softly "I wanna know everything Mikey" his voice cracked "Why? Why… did you…"

"I didn't" Mikey stated simply cutting him off. Mason met his gaze again, but this time his eyes were void of any emotion "That's what I was trying to tell you. I wanted kids, I've always wanted kids" he took a deep breath "The person that I was with left me before I even knew she was pregnant" a slight breeze blew some of his hair forward covering half of his face "If I knew about you then… maybe things would've been different" Mason simply looked back up at the sky "But I want to fix things between us now" when Mason didn't say anything he sighed and turned away "I'll meet you back at the lair. I gotta start dinner"

Mason finally spoke "Wait Mike" that stopped him, he turned just as Mason slid off the tree branch, landing on his feet with a light thud. He began to rub his upper arm nervously, he started scratching when his gaze met his father's so he decided to look at the not so interesting grass "I'm sorry… about earlier… I didn't mean it I… I just…" he gasped when he felt hands touch his shoulders. His eyes snapped up from the ground to Mikey's smiling face.

"It's okay"

"How… how is what I said even slightly okay?" he wondered why that was so easy "How can you forgive me just like that. Like what I said didn't matter, like it didn't hurt. I know it did cause I immediately regretted it as soon as I said it"

"And now I'm forgiving you"

"But do I really deserve it" Mason asked

"Of course, everybody deserves a second chance" Mason stared back at the ground "Even you"

Before he could say anything else he felt arms wrap around him and he started whispering something about being sorry. Mikey blinked a few times a little shocked, but eventually hugged him back trying to console "Shh, it's okay Mase it's alright, stop apologizing" he finally calmed down "Let's go home"

Mason managed a small grin and a nod before following his father back to the nearest manhole.

XXX

"Well, how'd it go?" Paige asked when the two turtles walked back in

Mason looked up to his father and smiled as he draped an arm over his shoulder "I think we're good" Mikey responded

"Finally" Raph teased as he walked out of the dojo "Now you should go get started on dinner I'm starving"

"Right, I'm on it" he said and headed back into the kitchen

Mason followed reluctantly "Want help?" he asked

Mikey looked back and smiled "Sure come on"

"Yay, that makes me happy" Paige bounced up and down "Now, if you'll excuse me I have a phone call to make"

"Okay, you do that" Raph said a took a peek into the kitchen to watch his brother and nephew actually talking to each other and laughing 'Way to go little brother' he thought and walked away giving them their needed privacy

"What are we making? And what do you want me to do?"

"Roasted chicken with red potatoes and you can make the salad"

"Cool…" Mason walked over to the fridge and pulled out lettuce, cucumber and tomatoes "So now what do we do about us?" Mason asked "Do we just go with the flow?"

"Well I've got sixteen years of catching up to do. So we could do what Vanessa and Don did when they met"

"What did they do?"

"They just took turns asking each other questions"

"That could work. You go first"

"Alright. Who's your favorite jazz musician?" he asked knowing what his favorite music genre was

"Herbie Hancock hands down" Mason said as he started to chop vegetables to make a salad "I don't know if you've ever heard any of his music, but you really should"

"I'd like that. Your turn"

Mason stopped to think "If you… had the chance… what would you have named me?"

Mikey had to stop what he was doing. Now that he was thinking about it he did have a name in case he ever had a son with Paige "Austin" he said after a while

"Hm, I like that. Darn now I really wish you did find me"

"I'm sorry I can't change that now"

"It's alright I'll deal with just being Mason"

So that's how they continued their time together just shooting questions back and forth and then of course things got a little personal. They sat down at the table after Mikey put the chicken in the oven.

"Why don't you have any kids of your own?"

Mikey sighed "Paige is afraid to try again. She thought she was sterile for a while and then when she finally got pregnant she miscarried"

"Oh, I'm…"

"Don't apologize Mason" Mason's mouth snapped shut and he absentmindedly fiddled with his wristbands while he was doing this Mikey couldn't help but notice a scar underneath it "Mason, why do you where those wristbands?" Mason looked down at his covered wrists. Calmly and slowly he took both of them off revealing tons of scars on each wrist. "Mason…"

"Now before you freak out you have to know that it was a long time ago and I just… wasn't happy" Mason said "So for some reason I thought doing this" he held his wrists up "Was going to help me, but it's over now I swear"

"You sure" Mikey asked worried

"Yeah I promise" Mason said "You know you're taking this pretty well"

"Sierra used to have the same problem"

"Really?"

"Yeah so in a way I guess I kinda know how to deal with stuff like this" Mikey explained

"Well that's useful" Mason said "You know I think this father son thing is gonna work out just fine"

"I think so too" Mikey smiled

XXX

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